I know summer is really here when I get organised enough to make my own pasta and then use fresh basil from the garden to make a pesto sauce to go with it. The fresh pasta I make is an egg pasta that is kneaded and then cut with a hand cranked machine similar to the one above.Tonight, I got organised and got cranking. Bliss!
Oh yes, the simple pleasures are the best ones.
What do you associate with summer?
...
And wine, was there a little wine?
ReplyDeleteHere I sit, knee deep in snow, thinking about summer. Berries - raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, sun-warmed and pie-bound. Garden vegetables, fresh herbs, and oh, summer is most definitely here when I can hang the washing on the line and it is dry before the morning is out.
ReplyDeleteI remember once in the 80s (or was it 90s?), every household in Malaysia must have this noodle-maker machine, including my mine who insisted that it's necessary. I think she made egg-noodle less than 5 times after that..and the machine got rusty and thrown away after 5 years being stored.
ReplyDeleteYou asked about summer? Here in Malaysia?
Sorry, please read that as 'my mom', not 'my mine'. Lazy to delete and retype.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed! Not only that you make your own pasta but that you grow enough basil to make pesto. We kill almost every plant that we really want. The only herb we've managed to keep alive is a chive plant.
ReplyDeleteSummer - heat, humidity and constant air conditioning. It often doesn't go below 80 F (26 - 27 C) at night here and the humidity stays high as well.
I associate our luscious gardens being in full bloom once again and our songbirds bathing in their baths which we have scattered among the flowers and shrubs. I also associate trips along the Pacific Ocean through Oregon and California and taking cruises along Puget Sound.
ReplyDeleteNow about your pasta and pesto. I wish I had your energy and talent, and wish our summers were hot enough that our basil grew full and tall. I love the scent and taste of basil and can hardly wait to get my plants in the ground each year, but they never grow full and large like they did in the southern USA. :(
Oh, how I wish it was summer here in the US. I have to go with Water Park for now. That's where my little guy and I are all the time!
ReplyDeleteStone fruit are summer to me! I love the taste of the sun I find in peaches & nectarines, apricots, & plums.
ReplyDeleteEveryday's summer in Malaysia I guess. I usually associate hot days with 'Ais Kacang'.. which is basically shaved ice topped with syrup and other stuff which I don't quite know how to translate...
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to come here to check it out.
I'll be there in March. Save me a bowl!
ReplyDeleteThe sometimes unbearable heat, which I hate!
ReplyDeleteHowever, we up this way have been experiencing a very cool Christmas/New Year season...plus gale force winds....and....wonderful rain!
A very happy New Year to you and yours, Lee. I hope 2008 brings you all things that are good! :)
JCN: Yes, there was a little wine.
ReplyDeletePauline: Today the washing would be dry before it got to the line - 42 & windy. That C, not F. 108F.
Hliza: Yes, the pasta machines had their time in the sun. Now most people have them stored away in a cupboard along with their electric crepe makers and burnt orange crock-pots. It takes a certain dedication to use the pasta machine but the result is so much nicer than dry pasta. This year when Margaret was away I did a stained glass window. On a previous absence I made a special pasta table. And, yes, I did think of you when I asked about summer. But asked anyway!
Don: Basil is my harbinger of summer. I love it.
Sky: Sounds good.
Butterflygirl: Can't be too cold if you are going to a water park...?
Meggie: Yes, yes & yes.
Aizan: I've put it on my list.
Lee: Thank you.
Basil -God's gift to tomatoes and pasta. Hint. Will freeze, loses glamour but keeps flavour.
ReplyDeleteSummer in Darwin in mid 1900's: hot dry mornings, thunderous downpour 4pm to 4.30pm, Temp 90sF, humidity 90%.
My only real winter - 17°F below, off the Korean coast. Irrgh!
Nah, gimme summer.
tomatoes are the summer thing here along with lots of mint for iced tea - the only cure for the humidity!
ReplyDeleteand even though it's supposed to be winter here all my basil is starting to awaken! eek!
enjoy your yummy treats!
Tomatoes, basil (pesto in fall), corn, lobster, ice cream, kayaking in the ocean, sun, light, long days, gardening.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah and blueberries and cold beer - but not together.
ReplyDelete